Angel
by Obsessed Authoress
Summary: Gilbert's beginning to think that God is jealous of him, holding this beautiful angel in his arms. So maybe it's really fate then, the fact that all his hopes are being swallowed whole. GilxOz ONESHOT


A/N- Ooookay, folks, my first attempt at the _PH_ fandom! It's kinda weird; I watched the show and read the manga a while ago, and had no real thoughts for fanfiction, and then two nights ago I had 4 FREAKIN' IDEAS AT 5-O-CLOCK IN THE MORNING-! -cough-plot-bunnies are evil-cough-

And for the record, GilxOz (or OzxGil) is my love. Can't get enough of the two of them. Alice belongs to Jack, Gil belongs to Oz (or Oz belongs to Gil...? Which way does that go again...? XD)

Oh, and this fic doesn't have a particular time setting...just sometime in the unwritten future. So yeah. Hope it's good! Enjoy! -OA

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**Angel**

_By ObsessedAuthoress_

Disclaimer: I don't own _Pandora Hearts_. Forget Sablier, _this_ is the _real_ Tragedy!!!! …Just kidding…

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He's known it ever since the first time they met.

So many years ago, between clutching Uncle Oscar's pant leg and quivering in fear, his child-self was casting awed glances up at the creature in front of him, all hair like sunshine, and smiles just as warm, emerald eyes glittering bright. Lovely, the loveliest thing he'd ever seen. Such a being couldn't be of this earth, could it?

_An angel, Oscar-sama. Is that an angel? _

It had to have been, an angel who rested that cheerful expression on him as if he _deserved_ it, as if he were _worthy_, who greeted him, took a fall for him, protected him, without even hardly knowing who he was.

A saving angel.

And Gilbert couldn't help but cry, because he knew it wasn't right. It _couldn't_ be right for someone like this to keep him from harm, to shed blood for him, a mere servant. If anything, their roles should have been reversed; it should have been him to shield the other, to prevent anything from happening to this special person.

_I'm supposed to protect you. _

Only, the angel didn't seem to see it that way.

"_Look, I'm your master now. That means that it's _my_ job to protect _you_!" _

That was the beginning, a bond irrevocably formed, immutable, unchanged by time and place and position. Whatever Oz may have said when they were young, Gilbert knows these feelings can never be changed; he can never stop trying to keep his master safe, his precious, precious master…

_My sweet, golden, saving angel. _

_But…angels don't belong in this world. _

Sometimes Gilbert thinks that God is jealous of him, jealous of the one pitiful human who's lucky enough to claim even a small piece of this angel's heart. So caring and generous and compassionate, this heart; of course God must want to hold it close. So God is trying to take Gilbert's angel away from him, pulling the beautiful spirit toward Heaven. Except, there's a problem with this theory, practically idyllic in comparison to the truth.

Gilbert knows that Heaven isn't where Oz is headed when the hand on his seal makes its full rotation.

_Swallowed by the Abyss. _

The thought rings like the toll of a funeral bell in his mind, a death knell to his hopes and dreams, his very reason for living. The ties that bind him are so tight, so closely-knit, that he can't imagine going on without that sunny smile, those clear green eyes. He's already borne ten years (_like being in a desert without water_), and that just barely. To have it all taken away again, to never again hear the effervescent voice with its myriad of underlying emotions: affection, pleasure, happiness, determination, sorrow, bitterness…

-The same voice in his ears now, screaming in pain.

He's kneeling on the floor with Oz in his arms, because it happened so fast, the seal's hand moving without any warning at all. It's just the two of them in his little house in Lebleux, that a rarity in itself, and for once he wishes that they were somewhere else, Pandora's headquarters perhaps, or the Rainsworth residence. Any place with someone who might be able to help-

_But there's nothing anyone can do about it, is there? Especially not you. _

He can only watch, numb, as Oz struggles, back arching, feet scrabbling for purchase on the wooden floor, one hand gripping Gilbert's shirtfront and the white-knuckled fingers of the other clutching at his chest where the seal lies. He can only listen as the cries of agony fade into breathless pants, the blond finally lying still in his arms, emerald orbs glazed over, small form trembling in the aftermath.

The clock from Hell is counting down, hand past the halfway point now, time slipping away.

_I would give _anything_ to change it-! _

Gilbert holds Oz closer to him, dark head lowered to hide tears. "It's okay, you're alright," he hears himself say, lips murmuring against golden hair, and his voice isn't shaking, it isn't. He starts when a pale hand reaches up and brushes against his cheek gently.

"Gil…what's with…that face?" the angel whispers weakly, smile faint. "You're going to get…wrinkles…" Gilbert tries to swallow the hysterical laughter that bubbles up within him, so ill-timed, but _how_ can Oz keep _saying_ things like that, on the heels of-

_Don't take him away from me. Please. _

And he can't keep the tears from coming, can't keep them hidden either (_though Oz has always seen through him anyway_), just sobs onto the boy's shoulder as if the world is ending. Which it is. He feels that pale hand shift further up, smoothing dark curls in consolation, and it only makes him cry harder, because he's failed once again.

_Failed to protect, failed to save, failed to comfort- I'm not the one with the seal tearing me apart, I should be comforting _him_, damn it-! _

But maybe he doesn't have it in him anymore, to lie and say that things will be fine, when everything is so horribly _wrong_.

So Gilbert presses Oz against him and prays through his tears to any god he can think of (_even the jealous God_) that everything _will_ be alright in the end, that they'll find a way to reverse the fate of the illegal contractor, that he won't have to lose his world again.

Because he doesn't want to wake up and find that the angel was just a figment of his dreams, an ephemeral vision, fleetingly here and soon gone.

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A/N- There ya go! A little short, ne? -sigh- I have trouble with longer stuff, best to stick to oneshots... Anyway, let me know what you think! Reviews feed the author's weary soul! :) Thanks! -OA


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